In Nigeria, at least 67 people, many of them children, have died at three Christmas charity events in recent days. This was reported by Euronews and Sky News, UNN reported.
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At least 35 children were reportedly killed at a school in the southwestern state of Oyo on Wednesday, December 18. While the exact cause of the stampede is unknown, it is believed to have been triggered by a local radio station offering children the chance to win prizes and gifts at an event. According to the state's governor, Seyi Makinde, the organizers of the event have already been arrested.
And on Saturday, December 21, 22 people were killed in the southeastern state of Anambra, and another 10 died in the capital Abuja, where more than 1,000 people gathered in a church to receive clothes and food.
Some of the people who died in Abuja waited all night outside the church in cold weather to be the first to get to the charity event, said Lovet Inyang, who saved a child during the stampede.
Accounts from witnesses and police in Abuja and Anambra indicate that the stampede occurred before the start of the events, when people were trying to get the first seats.
According to Ademola Adetuberu, the head of a security company in Abuja, problems arise because organizers of charity events often neglect security.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu urged local authorities not to tolerate the mistakes of the organizers of such events any longer, and the police obliged them to obtain prior permission before holding them.